X Factor contestant Don Philip was bullied into confessing he was gay then Fox and Simon Cowell edit the confession out
This post was written by guest blogger and reality TV showbiz observer Daniel Cohen. Catch up with him on Twitter here!
Producers of Simon Cowell’s U.S. version of The X Factor edited an emotional gay confession from Don Philip, who once duetted with judge Britney Spears, out of the second season premiere on Wednesday night – because they didn’t think it was relevant.
“I’m sorry they didn’t think it was up to the X Factor standard as Britney says,” Don tells RumorFix. “They already outed me to the world.”
Don, who went through a roller coaster of emotions when he came out to Britney, says,
“Is Gay bad for FOX? I didn’t do anything bad. They edited the gay out of me.” Adding:
“I don’t understand it. Aren’t they a reality show? Is it too real?” Don said that Britney didn’t do anything wrong and the omission “is sending the wrong message. It’s like gay is being censored.”
Much has been made of Don Philip’s revelation, which was recorded during the San Francisco, California auditions in June. We told you all about it back then, but executives chose not to feature it when the second season of the show debuted.
Instead, viewers saw Philip breaking down onstage in front of Spears, who recognised him immediately after he confessed the last 10 years – since he worked with the singer – had been difficult.
What fans of the show didn’t see was Philip ‘coming out’ as a gay man to his former duet partner and her fellow judges. Philip says the show cut out 10 minutes of his interview where he admitted he is gay, after bullying from the judges.
“It was kind of a private thing they forced out of me,” Philip says. “I would say bullied out of me.”
Philip told the New York Post that after his audition, which was taped June 16 in San Francisco, he was devastated.
“After that thing, I went home and had thoughts of (suicide). I was so destroyed that they set me up.”
Speaking to Access Hollywood, Philip reveals he told the “X Factor” producers he didn’t want to talk about being gay on the reality program.
“Backstage, I’d talked to the producers about what was my secret was. And I mentioned that my secret was I was gay, but I really didn’t want to talk about it on the show. So, minutes later when I got on stage, L.A. Reid said, ‘What’s the secret? What’s the secret?’ over and over again. And I had to say it,” Philip claimed. “I just felt like they were going to say it so I felt like I needed to say it first. And, I was just so emotionally distraught, I couldn’t pull it together to actually sing.”
A spokesperson for the show says, “The judges and producers felt it wasn’t relevant to this audition that he was gay.”
And in a statement issued to U.S. news show Access Hollywood Live, the producers claim they were concerned about Philip’s mental state after he displayed “deep psychotic feelings” after he was rejected from the show by Spears and the judges.
Britney meanwhile claimed not to remember Don. At “The X Factor” premiere party earlier this week.
“Have you run into anyone from your past as a judge like Christina Aguilera did on ‘The Voice’?” an Access Hollywood producer asked Spears. “Um, no, actually,” Spears told Access. “I haven’t. No.”
In the second episode the editors cut the camera just as an openly gay singer’s Japanese boyfriend was going to kiss (or hug) him. To watch Don’s FULL audition go here.
http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/0Db4-LmV0RE/
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So,,I’m confused…Is he upset that they made him confess or that they edited it out? Wouldn’t he be glad they edited it if he didn’t want people to know ?
So he didn’t want to come out and he was bullied into it and now is going public stating they didn’t put it in his audition? I think he is just looking for attention
None of it makes sense. The first half of the article contradicts the second. Either it’s simply horrible writing, or the guy is simply looking for attention. In any case, there was no bullying involved – and sorry, but if you go onto a show like x-factor and don’t want anybody to know that you’re gay, then shut the hell up and don’t tell anybody. Otherwise it’s open season.
This is very simple.
He was bullied into confessing and then, they publish the fact all over the news. However, they then, after having done this, decide that it’s not relevant and so silence him by editing it out.
He should be outspoken because this was bullying at its core. There is a problem in this country of gays being bullied into silence and suicide. By talking about it, he shows that there is a lot that needs to change. And, it hopefully brings about conversations that lead to change.
It is not about them removing what he didn’t want said. It is about the bullying, the manipulation, and then out right homophobic reaction and lack of concern for him and for others who may be gay and experiencing the same sort of thing.
This is about declaring gay bullying to not be a problem because no one is complaining about it. And anyone who attempts to complain about it must be looking for attention.
It’s Fox guys. Even though it’s not the cable station, it still is part of the network. Even it’s nightly newscast portrays a “slant”, though slight when reporting politics. Fox and the conservative agenda is not very gay friendly. Even if this exchange did happen, and he was “bullied”, I don’t think it was the judges intent – however it should have been shown. Even the gay hug/kiss or whatever was cut out. So again, I don’t think it was specific to Don, as it is an across the board agenda at Fox.
I would be upset too. If they didn’t think it was relevant, then why FORCE him to talk about it in the first place?!? It’s clear that FOX was trying to get as much drama as they could at the expense of someone else’s emotions. THAT IS BULLYING! And for the show to do this and claim that they are “concerned” about someone’s mental state when they have Britney Spears on the judging panel?!? The same Britney that had a complete mental breakdown and shaved her head and lost all control over her money and went through a highly publicized messy divorce and was accused of being an unfit mother as well as the rumors that she herself had attempted suicide? You would think she would have been more sensitive to someone’s feelings when it comes to these situations – especially someone that she once worked with.
Perhaps they edited it out because they were sorry they asked in the first place. perhaps the producers didn’t air the confession because as the guy said it was bullied out of him. seems like he is a bit too emo about the situation or perhaps the fact that it doesn’t matter to me his sexual orientation is. he’s on a stereotypically gay oriented “artistic” show heck Britney spears is on it and we all know she is a human being as they say on youtube. this is just an article trying to drum up controversy so it will be read and get publicity. perhaps the author is just upset he lost his fame or is upset it didn’t get as controversial as he wanted. back in the 80′s it would have been front page news but now a days we are so used to people coming out it is not as much of a big deal. Ricky Martin, elton john, clay aiken, ( Tom cruise and Ryan sea crest
)
This makes little sense to me.
Who raised the matter of his “little secret” in the first place? From the info as written in the article, it would appear that he told them he had a secret that he did not want to talk about. If that is factual, then what motivated him to say he had a secret in the first place.
More info is needed.
Yeah, I call shenanigans on this. He’s devastated that they “bullied” him into confessing but he’s upset they didn’t air it and is saying it’s because he’s gay? Doesn’t make sense. HE’S the one who’s airing the whole thing in public, I think it’s nothing more than sour grapes. I watched it, the guy had a horrible (weird sounding) voice and he was creepy and uncomfortable to watch. It was obvious that he was trying to parlay his acquaintance with Britney Spears into being put through. The judges were a lot nicer to him than they were to most others. Truth is he wasn’t good enough gay or not. It’s people like this that demean the struggle and people who are truly struggling with the decision to come out and I find it extremely offensive.
I am confused about this article, I don’t know if he was upset because he came out on the air and he got edited or he got upset because Syco edited his confession as Fox hates everything that is not a straight white male.
Don may have tried to play the “sad story” card and got caught up in it too much, you see so many resort to tears to get attention on these shows.
I think the least Britney could do is give him lip sync lessons, they he could produce what the X Factor is looking for. Instead she denies in an interview that she doesn’t know the guy.
So he was upset that they made him say it because he didn’t wNt to talk about it on tv, then upset that it got cut out? Where is the logic there? I agree with the producers, it’s not relivent to his audition. Everyones tape got cut down not just his.
I think trying to imply that a company isn’t “gay friendly” or howeve you want to put it, is becoming almost a fad. It’s the thing to do even if you have to make it stretch like this post.
As a journalist, or someone who is pretending to be on by writing this, you need to do your research. Britany is under a confidencality contract, she can’t speak about the contestants until the show airs. I doubt she was willing to break that to answer someone’s question.
Just another hole in your faulty logic.
i honestly think he is just stating all of this for attention. I watched his audition and he sucked really bad. So he needs to suck it up and move on and realize that singing might not be his thing
Fox is full of shit, shit, shit. Nuff said.
Some of you are missing the point. He had a secret he did not want to discuss on national tv. The judges bullied the secret out of him which in turn affected his audition. he became to emotional to sing. causing him to be rejected from the show.
i call bullshit.
a sob story and mediocre singing does not warrant a free pass.
no one forced him into anything. all he had to do was stop talking and SING but he went on and on and on..
After watching the video, all of this makes sense. L.A. Reid did nothing wrong. He actually encouraged the guy to announce that he was gay twice, but only because the crowd cheered the first time. This was L.A.’s way of helping Don come to terms with telling people about “him”. This wouldn’t have even happened had Don simply said he had, or didn’t have, a job during the last 10 years. Instead, he kept going on a rant about sweating and fighting; obviously skirting the issue. Then, afterwards, the producers removed it at the wish of Don himself. Anything else than this is simply silly.
From what I can tell he was not bullied into it.. he was pressured into it… which does suck but the maybe the judges did not know the severity of the secret…=/ I don’t know
As well, I’m not sure that X-factor had released that he was gay (cause other wise why go public with it)…if it was released then this makes sense that he would be upset over them releasing it in the first place and then to have to go through all that to have them cutting it. Or maybe he really doesn’t care that it was cut and it is just additional information…
Other wise it is really shit position they put him in and they should apologize whomever leaked it!!!